Laurentian Library Stair
To visualize any of Michelangelo's designs, we must seek to capture not a
determinate solution, but the spirit and the goals of a process. (Ackerman, p. 52)
Modeling the Laurentian Library stair on the computer as opposed to building a physical
model, allowed me to investigate the stair in far greater detail than would be possible in
the same amount of time. In addition I was able to take advantage of different
methods of construction which brought out the particular qualities of that element.
Such as using surfaces to emphasize the flowing, draping characteristics of the risers
and treads, and using solids to emphasize the complex intersections which allow the
handrail to merge into the banister and the banister into the stair. I believe that
together, these elements recapture the powerful flowing spirit of the stairs, the action
in repose, the gesture. Through the entire process I sought to exemplify the quote by
Ackerman above.
This project was composed in two weeks as part of a history project for Howard Burns. January 26, 1994
Bibliography
Ackerman, James S. The Architecture of Michelangelo. Second Edition, The University of Chicago Press : Chicago, 1986.
Portoghesi, Paolo. "La Biblioteca Laurenziana", Michelangiolo Architetto. ed. Giulio Einaudi, 1964. This encyclopedia of Michelangelo's work was the source for all plans and elevations.
Wittkower, Rudolf. Idea and Image : Studies in the Italian Renaissance. Thames and Hudson, 1960?. Wittkower provides the most detailed description available of the stair in this article.
january 1994 www.gsd.harvard.edu/~gsd94lb5/cover.html